SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT REVERSES POSITION AND GRANTS PERMIT FOR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 SF MARCH AGAINST AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ WARS

The SFPD today granted the October 17 Antiwar Coalition a last-minute permit for a Market Street/Mission Street antiwar protest. The Permit Division had a few days earlier rejected a march permit with the explanation that it had “insufficient police” to properly monitor the march.

Had the permit rejection stood it would have been the first time ever that a march permit has been denied to peaceful demonstrators protesting U.S. wars abroad – in this case the U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Market Street marches and other routes through the city have been routinely organized from the time of the Vietnam War to the present without police permit rejection.

“I have been organizing permitted and peaceful antiwar marches without incident for the past 40 years,” said march co-coordinator, Jeff Mackler. “The idea that the city of San Francisco would or could deny us our fundamental democratic rights and civil liberties has never been in question.”

The October 17 Antiwar Coalition includes endorsing groups ranging from the San Francisco and Alameda Labor Councils, the Episcopal Diocese of California, the American Friends Service Committee, Labor for Peace and Justice to the nation’s five leading antiwar coalitions.

October 17 is a national day of antiwar protest with demonstrations set for 40 U.S. cities. Initiated by a summer national conference in Pittsburgh sponsored by the National Assembly to End the Afghanistan Wars and Occupations, the month of October commemorates the onset of these wars and marks the 40th anniversary of the historic Vietnam Moratorium, an event that mobilized 2.5 million Americans to protest the Vietnam War.

“Bring the Troops Home Now!” is the central demand of the October 17 protest.

Led my SF Supervisor Eric Mar, a majority of the city’s supervisors joined the effort to obtain the formal permit. Mar will be a featured speaker at the 1:00 pm UN Plaza Rally. Supervisor John Avalos, whose City Hall offices were used for yesterday’s coalition media conference, was joined by supervisors David Chiu, Chris Daley and Ross Mirakarimi in the successful effort to reverse the SFPD’s initial permit rejection.

The march assembles at the UN Plaza (Market between 7th and 8th Street) at 11 am. The march begins at Noon and returns to the UN Plaza for a 1:00 rally. For view of the flier and march route, click here

We have an exciting and informative program lined up. So come out with your friends, family and co-workers for a peaceful, legal demonstration and join us in song, dance, marches, cheers, chants, banner waving (represent!), and protests. Send the message that you’re for an end to a combined total of 15 years of U.S. led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let your spirit of humanity shine brightly and your voice be heard loudly so that the government can’t ignore the sights and sounds of the majority in this country who are against their wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! BRING THEM HOME NOW!

The U.S. goverment plans to send tens of thousands of more young men and women–sons and daughters, mothers and fathers–to Afghanistan. October 17 at U.N. Plaza is your chance to become an anti-war activist.

194. World Prout Assembly
195. War Times
196. Freedom Socialist Party
197. Revolutionary Workers Group
198. American Friends Service Committee/SF
199. Diablo Valley United for Healthcare and Justice
200. Diablo Valley SDS
201. Contra Costa County Peace and Freedom Party

202. Bay Area Women in Black
203. La Voz de los Trabajadores/SF Bay Area
204. San Francisco Bay View newspaper
205. Asian Americans for Peace and Justice
206. Women’s International League for Peace and Justice
207. World March for Peace and Nonviolence

We are a coalition of many political and social justice organizations who are actively building an antiwar rally on Oct. 17, 2009, 11am at U.N. Plaza, San Francisco, CA. Come to our next opening planning meeting at Sunday, Oct. 11, 2:00 PM First Unitarian Universalist Church (Fireside Room) 1187 Franklin ... Continue reading →